Refrigerating apparatus



May 23, 1944. M. J. GOULOOZE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 16, 1941 INVENTOR.

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Patented May 23, 1944 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Martin J. Goulooze, Grand Rapids, Mich assignor to N ash-Kelvinator Corporation, Detroit, Mich a corporation of Maryland Application October 16, 1941, Serial No. 415,187

2 Claims.

It is another object of the present invention to interconnectively join the edges of the inner and outer wall of a refrigerator by a breaker strip which is readily attached by use of resilient members.

The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a refrigerator cabinet;

Fig; 2 is a View taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a fastening member embodied in the present invention.

Shown in the drawing is a refrigerator cabinet l0 having a door l2. The cabinet is formed of an outer sheet metal casing or shell I4 and an inner sheet metal casing or liner I6. Suitable heat insulation material I! is interposed between the shells l4 and N.

The outer casing or shell I4 forms the sides,

' top, and if desired, the rear wall of the refrig- .wall portion 22 in space parallel relation to the front wall portion 20. The rear portion 22 forms with the front wall portion 20 a pocket or recess 24. This form of construction reinforceably strengthens the front edge or front wall of the cabinet.

The inner liner it which forms the walls of a food storage compartment 29 in the cabinet is marginally bent adjacent the door opening 30 to provide a laterally extending flange or front wall portion 32. The front wall portion 32 is in substantial parallel alignment with the rear wall portion 22 of the outer shell with their edges terminating a substantial distance apart.

Joining the edges of the front walls 20 and 32' is a breaker strip 36 confined on one edge thereof to the pocket 24 and the other edge in flush contact with the wall portion 32. The breaker strip may be made of plastics, fibrous material, Bakelite" or any suitable non-hydroscopic, nonmetallic material. Similar breaker strips are positioned along the other side of the cabinet on the front wall adjacent the opening 30 thereof, and immediately above the food storage compartment at the top of the cabinet, and also immediately below the food storage compartment. Sincethe principle of attaching the breaker strip 36 to the cabinet and the principle of attaching the other breaker strips are the same, I have only shown in detail the breaker strip 36 and the way it is attached to the cabinet.

The breaker strip is secured to the cabinet by means of resilient members 40. The members 40' are secured in spaced apart relation to the rear wall portion 22 and are attached by bending one end of the member to form parallel spaced apart legs 42 and 43 for flush engagement with opposite sides of the wall 22. The opposite end of the member isalso bent to form resiliently spaced apart legs 44 and 45. The legs 43 and 45 are joined by section 41. The legs 44 and 45 are resiliently joined so as to normally tend to move apart. The leg 44 engaging against the rear wall I portion 22 with the leg 45 pressing against the breaker strip so as to clampingly hold the breaker strip in flush engagement against the edge of the front wall 20. Beveling the face portion of the breaker strip along its marginal edge which engages against the front wall 20, as at 49, permits the resilient members to hold the edge of the breaker strip so that the breaker strip extends angularly towards the opposite inwardly oiI-set wall portion 32. Sufilcient angularity to the bevel permits the resilient members to press the opposite edge of the breaker strip tightly against the face of the wall portion 32. It will be obvious that the angle of the bevel or taper 49 is determined by the planular position of the walls 20 and 32 relative to each other.

While I have shown and described the preferred forms of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details as shown and described, but wish to avail myself of such variations and modifications as may come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a cabinet construction, the combination of inner'and outer shells having heat insulation therebetween and being provided with a door opening, said shells having edge portions bent inwardly toward each other, the edge portion of one of the shells being bent to form a pocket opening toward the edge portion of the other shell, said pocket having inner and outer walls, a breaker strip bridging the space between the two shells and adapted to engage the inwardly extending portions thereof, said breaker strip having one edge thereof received in the pocket of one of the shells and adapted to'be held in engagement with the outer wall of said pocket, and a resilient member in said pocket having one end thereof provided with a loop encompassing the edge of the inner wall thereof, and the opposite end of said member extending into the pocket and formed in a resilient loop of a size to substantially traverse the pocket, said loop being in engagement with the inner wall of the pocket and inner surface of the breaker strip for pressing the breaker strip against the outer wall of the pocket and thereby holding the breaker strip in contact with the inwardly extending portions of both shells.

2. In a cabinet construction, the combination of inner and outer shells having heat insulation therebetween and being provided with a door opening, said shells having edge portions bent inwardly toward each other, the edge portion of one of the shells being bent to form a pocket opening toward the edge portion of the other shell, said pocket having inner and outer walls, a breaker strip bridging the space between the two shells and adapted to engage the inwardly extending portions thereof, said breaker strip having one edge thereof received in the pocket of one of the shells and having the outer surface thereof beveled and adapted to be held in engagement with the outer wall of said pocket, and a resilient member in said pocket having one end thereof provided with a loop for encompassing the edge .of the inner wall thereof, and the opposite end of said member extending into the pocket and formed in a resilient loop of a size to substantially traverse the pocket, said loop being in engagement with the inner wall of the pocket and inner surface of the breaker strip for pressing the breaker strip against the outer wall of the pocket and thereby holding the breaker strip in contact with the inwardly extending portions of both shells.

MARTIN J. GOULOOZE. 

